Berry Muffins

Before the weather dropped back down into the 30's again I had a rare moment of not asked for baking and decided to go Spring with it to celebrate the warm weather we had.

It's rare lately that I get to bake for fun and not because someone asked for something. Baking is usually taken up by birthdays, class parties, requested cookies, etc. I had the urge to bake for the sheer joy of it and I ran with the idea of a fresh, barely sweet, crumbly berry muffin.

Alice is usually my baking helper. She loves to crack the eggs which is just about the most hilarious thing ever to me. It usually involves her smashing the egg to messy gelatinous pieces on the counter or barely tapping it and then with her monstrous toddler strength crushing the egg into the mix. Tip for parents baking with their kids- have a separate bowl for them to crack the eggs into. That way if when they get egg shell everywhere it is more easily fished out.

There are so many basic muffin recipes out there. I just went with one that I thought looked nice and not terribly sweet.

We had a lot of fun making a big mess and mixing all of our wet ingredients together before pouring them on top of the dry.

Then I just added 1 cup each of frozen blueberries and raspberries. I am the queen of indifference and could NOT make up my mind at the store which kind I wanted so I thought what the hell, why not go with both. (In general I don't buy mixed berries because I really really dislike frozen strawberries and the mush they get after thawing which is why I went with individual berries.)

I love the berry swirls. Mmm.

I used my 1/4 cup measure to equally pour the batter into my muffin tin.

I added some dark chocolate almond granola to the top of mine for a fun crunch and some added flavor!

After a brief cooling off period (and sticking 2 of them into the freezer so that they'd be extra cool and safe for the kiddos) we dug in. So good. Muffins right out of the oven, still warm. Juicy berries and the fun purple swirls. The chocolate crunch of the granola. Oh man.

Safe to say the kids enjoyed them! I think next time I might try grating some zucchini or carrots in there for an added secret veggie kick!

I am hoping to get more baking in. I have some plans for yummy blueberry biscuits that will hopefully happen this evening!